Graduate Student Employees at UIC Go on Strike

Graduate student employees at the University of Illinois Chicago have gone on strike.

The Chicago Tribune reports the graduate and teaching assistants formed picket lines of about a dozen people each outside several campus buildings on Tuesday. The employees went on strike after more than a year of failed contract negotiations. They are members of the Graduate Employees Organization, which represents more than 1,500 workers. They say they plan to strike indefinitely.

Union leaders say the workers ``live on the edge of poverty.'' UIC officials say the strike ``is not in the best interest of the university.'' They said all students are expected to report to classes.

It wasn't immediately clear how many employees didn't report to work or how many classes were affected.